ByRodrigo Campos, ReutersFebruary 18, 2011

Stock rally: Is the bull on Wall Street making a comeback? The stock rally in recent months has the NYSE and Nasdaq making gains, and S&P 500 making quickest 100 percent gain since the Great Depression.

Futures had dipped early in the session after data showed both a rise in consumer prices and new claims for unemployment benefits, but the dip didn't last long after the open.

"People have been focusing on the positives like the outlook for corporations and a good earnings season," said Brian Lazorishak, a money manager at Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Stocks continued to ignore Iran's intention to send two navy vessels through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean in a move Israel has called a "provocation".

The S&P 500 has doubled its value in less than two years, the quickest 100 percent gain since the Great Depression. However, volume has been light in the most recent leg of the rally, with just 6.7 billion shares changing hands Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq combined -- the second-lowest so far in 2011.

Its competitor Coca Cola Co (KO.N) was the top gainer in the Dow industrials, up 1.8 percent to $64.55. Coke also announced an increase in its dividend.

Data showed U.S. core consumer prices rose at the quickest pace in 15 months in January but economists said the turnaround in prices was unlikely to derail the Federal Reserve's plan to continue pumping money into the economy.

That excess liquidity has been one of the main drivers of the stocks rally in recent months.

A separate report showed factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region rose in February to its highest since January 2004, with an employment subindex reaching its highest point since April 1973.